Chuck Crow / The Plain DealerAlthough he had some success with the Tribe last season, there were no guarantees for reliever Frank Hermann this year when he reported to spring training. Monday, he was told he would be on the Indians' 25-man roster.

Goodyear, Ariz. -- Four guys, three spots.

That's what it came down to for the final spots in the Tribe bullpen.

Four right-handed relievers . . . three spots.

"All of us pitched well," said Frank Hermann, one of the four. "We knew someone was going to get cut who probably should have made the team."

The four were Justin Germano, Vinnie Pestano, Jess Todd and Hermann. All four had spring earned-run averages under 2.00. All four are between 24 and 28 years old.

All four know they aren't phenoms -- that chances to make a major-league team don't happen often.

Hermann was signed as an undrafted free agent after his junior year at Harvard.

Pestano was the 611th pick by the Tribe in the 2006 draft -- after he had had reconstructive elbow surgery. And there were more arm problems in 2009 at Class AA Akron where he didn't pitch the final two months.

Todd was a second-round pick by the Cardinals in the 2007 draft, but sort of fell out of favor. He was moved from the rotation to the bullpen -- and then traded along with Chris Perez to the Tribe in the 2009 Mark DeRosa deal.

Germano is 28, but sounds and feels a bit older. It's like that when you sign at 17, when this is your 11th year in pro ball with four different organizations -- along with a side trip to Japan.

All four of these pitchers arrived at the Tribe clubhouse early Monday morning knowing that this was Decision Day. Either they were going to Cleveland . . . or back to Class AAA.

Todd was the one who got the bad news.

"You try not to look at what everyone else is doing," said Hermann. "You try not to guess what they [the front office and manager] are thinking."

But he said everyone knows how many spots are open. He remembers feeling a little uneasy when the Tribe signed veteran Chad Durbin right before camp, taking away a bullpen job.

Hermann knows it's amazing that he's even in the majors. He was spotted by Tribe scout Don Lyle while pitching in a Hawaii summer league. He was a year away from a Harvard economics degree and thinking about a job on Wall Street.

"But all my friends said I had to go for it [baseball]," said Hermann. "They said there is plenty of time to sit in an office cubicle. They said if I didn't do this, I'd always regret it."

Hermann made the majors in the middle of 2010, compiling a 4.03 ERA in relief with the Tribe. He went back to school and has his economics degree.

He also knows that a lot of guys make the majors, but don't stay. They arrive during the season, stick around for a few months -- then get cut the following spring. Then they bounce back to the minors. They go from team to team.

"Making it this year was important for me," he said. "I want to establish myself here."

And it was a nice raise, too.

For Hermann, his salary will be $419,000 in the majors this season; $160,000 in Class AAA.

The most dramatic of the split contracts belongs to Pestano: $414,000 for making the team, $67,300 if he had been sent to the minors.

'Anything can happen'

in spring training

That's how it was at the start of training camp.

At that point, it appeared Jensen Lewis ($670,000) and Joe Smith ($850,000) were on the team because of their contracts and experience.

Germano and the others kept telling themselves, "Anything can happen." But the four believed only one of them would survive the final cut. Players with the bigger contracts and more experience usually make it.

But Lewis was terrible in spring training, and was sent to Class AAA. Then Smith had a strained upper abdominal muscle.

Suddenly one spot became three.

The four guys could do the math -- and hope rose.

Asked how many times that he has had that end-of-spring-training, heart-pounding walk to the manager's office -- Germano counted on his fingers. He needed two hands.

"This is only the second time that I made a team out of spring training," he said.

Six spring trainings, four cuts.

Germano has an 80-63 record and a 3.76 ERA in the minors. But he doesn't throw hard. He was 8-19 with a 4.98 ERA in the majors.

He has been traded three times, waived once, and the Indians signed him last year after he came back from Japan and sent them an email looking for a minor-league job. He spent the final two months in Cleveland, where he went 0-3 with a 3.31 ERA. But then he was taken off the 40-man roster in the winter.

"Something like that makes you angry," he said. "I know they wanted to protect some of the young guys [from being drafted by another team], but it does make you wonder."

At 28, it says that you are no longer a young guy, no longer even a marginal prospect. Germano did not allow a run or a walk in eight spring innings.

"We gave Germano our word that he'd be treated like a roster guy," said Indians manager Manny Acta. "It came down to him and Todd. Justin fits in long relief."

Germano said at one point, he feared he could be cut -- and not even sent to the minors because they wanted to go with younger pitchers instead. Those thoughts haunt after you have been traded three times, waived once and gone to Japan.

"They kept their word," said Germano, knowing that's not always the case in baseball.

Three infielders compete

for one position

The Indians were keeping two infielders from this list -- Jack Hannahan, Adam Everett, Jayson Nix and Luis Valbuena.

It became three guys for one spotas Everett proved he was healthy. At 34, Everett has been a superb shortstop for eight seasons with Houston and Detroit. He doesn't hit (.243 lifetime), but the Indians didn't care.

For these jobs, defense ruled.

At the start of spring training, only hardcore Tribe fans knew Jack Hannahan was in camp. He was a third baseman, mostly as insurance in case Jason Donald couldn't learn the position after being a shortstop.

"I've been to four camps, and this is only the second time that I made it," said Hannahan.

He is 31. He has a bald spot. He has been with Detroit, Oakland, Seattle and now the Tribe.

Hannahan has been in the majors in parts of four seasons with three different teams -- but has only two years plus 34 days of experience. He has played in 290 big-league games, batting .224.

Once upon a time, Hannahan was the 2000 Big Ten Player of the Year at Minnesota, and then a third-round pick by Detroit. He's a guy who led the Big Ten in homers and RBI as a junior, and ended up as a good-field, no-hit third baseman as a pro.

He went from a prized prospect to a guy fighting for a big-league job.

"What I do is not read the papers, not read the Internet, not try to talk about the rumors," Hannahan said. "I keep telling myself to tune out everything. You never know what may happen."

Then he told the story of how he thought he would open the 2009 season with Oakland, but the A's signed Nomar Garciaparra in early March. He was done, back in Class AAA.

This year, Donald broke a bone in his left hand and will open the season on the disabled list. The Indians were not about to open with Lonnie Chisenhall in Cleveland. Suddenly, the Indians needed a third baseman. They had Hannahan, Nix and Valbuena as the candidates -- and Hannahan is the only true third baseman, so he survived.

"A lot of things in baseball can just eat you up," he said. "So I try not to think about anything. But I had butterflies when they called me into the office."

Of course, nothing is promised for long. Smith and Donald are supposed to be healthy in a few weeks, meaning a pitcher and infielder will have to be cut.

But for now, none of these guys want to think about that.

"It's most a sense of relief," said Hannahan. "I think all of us in this position feel that way right now."

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